Dronies begin like a selfie: The subject of the photo is holding the control as the drone hovers in front of their smiling (or cooly detached and unengaged) faces. But then the drone slowly pulls back to show the subjects and surrounding landscape from above.

This static image is not a dronie:

This is:

Utilizing cute kids for the nonthreatening spread of dronies are highly encouraged:

The Wall Street Journal says that drones also make for the best family vacation photos, so start taking dronies now before they stop being cool.